TFP 5: The Road Once Traveled
by Karra Greenfield
Summary: TF Prime. What we've learned in the past help us prepare and adapt to what the future brings. Begins after "New Recruit",threads episodes Human Factor and Legacy. Author Note:Has a lot of character development, but there is some action mixed in.
1. Chapter 1

_[Location: Outskirts of a small town in north-central Colorado]_

A quiet drive was just the thing Special Agent William Fowler needed after the hectic time with the Autobots. Between their increasingly frequent battles with the Decepticons and the disappearance and return of Elita-One, the human liaison was left wondering exactly how the Autobots were able to handle things like this for so long _before_ they had arrived on Earth.

Then again, being a battle-seasoned warrior himself, Agent Fowler knew that in a war there was usually little downtime to focus on what was going on around you overall. If your head wasn't focused on your current mission and your surroundings, then the chances of mistakes increased in spades. And when you did have the downtime to think the last thing any battlefield soldier wanted to do was think about the insanity around them. It was best to reflect on what you had at home, to bring family and friends to mind and use _that_ to hold you together when all you wanted to do was scream and or cry. And yes, grown men do cry. Others may not see them do it, but it happens.

When Agent Fowler was first assigned to work with the Autobots he was less than thrilled to have been assigned a "babysitting job". After all of his training, cross-training, and battlefield experience, it felt like an insult to everything he had poured into his life and military career. Naturally this left him in a sour mood and he limited his visits and direct contact with the Cybertronian beings to when he absolutely had to. Usually it was when their cover was almost blown and the government higher-ups got antsy, and because it got his superiors breathing down his neck he returned the feeling to the Autobots. There was no love lost between himself and the Autobots, but there was no love gained either. Then the Decepticons began their push again, and Jack, Miko, and Rafael were thrown into this little world.

At first it was just more work for him to do, making more frequent visits as skirmishes happened and to check on the kids, because at the time he didn't trust the bots to really care for the humans one way or another. Other elements, most of them named M.E.C.H., began to throw themselves into play. And then the kids had started to grow on him, constantly putting themselves in danger in their efforts to help the team, and a few times himself. Naturally he returned the favor a time or two.

Agent Fowler had to chuckle as he recalled the time he had to bail Miko out of trouble at the museum. She did pretty well covering for everyone for as long as she had, but when he felt that she was actually starting to lose ground with the security guard he stepped in to save the day. He just wouldn't let her know that he had been listening for so long.

As he spent more time with the Autobots at their base, the more he had gotten to know them. Optimus Prime reminded him of his commanding officer when Fowler was running missions during his Army Ranger days, a man that was always willing to lay his own life down for any of the men under his command. Seeing Prime in action, especially with how he handled those under his command, gave Fowler a deep respect for the Autobot.

The bot that had the second most amount of respect from Fowler now had to be Bulkhead. In some odd way they shared a similar history, the dirty work that had to be done. There was no doubt left in Fowler's mind about exactly what Bulkhead would do for any of the others, especially Miko. Lord help the Con that threatened Miko, and from what Fowler found out after he had gotten back from his meeting with the Mayor of New York City, Lord help the 'Con that hurt Bulkhead.

It frustrated him that the youngest of their group could understand Bumblebee, but the rest needed a translator. Miko and Jack were doing better about understanding him, but that really was only for when he was in his bot form and could do motions and reactions as he "spoke". Privately the liaison asked Prime what had happened and he was only given the short story of "Megatron ripped out his vocal emitter." That was all Fowler really needed, and wanted, to hear.

Arcee's attitude towards the human hadn't really changed, the Autobot fem still quiet, brooding, and ever silent in her thoughts around him. She was keeping Agent Fowler at a distance, a protective move made by those who lost too many close to themselves that he had seen in many soldiers.

Ratchet was an enigma. The once constantly brooding Autobot medic was quieter than usual. Though quite normal for the "Doc" to be working on something, Fowler had caught glimpses of human medical journals on his workstation screens. There was also something slightly amusing at watching him try to read a human book. Fortunately, Elita seemed happy to read to Ratchet when they had the quiet time at the base for her to do so.

Now thinking on the newest of their group, Elita had also been quieter since her return. When she wasn't reading to Ratchet, or helping the kids out with their homework, she was either working on the computer systems or in her kitchen. Agent Fowler was as puzzled as the rest of them as to exactly how Elita-One was able to make energon, but much like a lot of things that had to deal with Cybertronians he learned to just accept it. But there is one aspect of the Autobot-Human hybrid that he could understand and that was the human part, and that part was the reason he was driving where he was.

He had driven out this way once before when he felt that he personally had to deliver the news to Ellan Greer's mother that her daughter had passed away. Even Fowler struggled against the tightness in his throat as he watched Jessica Greer hug the urn tightly to herself as she struggled through the shock of the bad news, the chain to her daughter's locket draped around her right hand. That was a feeling that Agent Fowler _never_ wanted to go through again and it seeded a fear in his heart that one day he might have to do the same thing to Jack's mother or Rafael's or Miko's parents. That was one of the hardest battles he had ever waged to not tell her that her daughter was still alive, but that would just put the woman in a danger.

He had spent the rest of that day with Jessica, listening to the proud mother tell him about everything her daughter had done for her over the years, from doing her best in school, to taking on whatever job she could while her mother was battling the breast cancer so she could focus on recovering while her daughter covered the bills, to even how Ellan took care of her up until she disappeared.

Even back then the little home was warm, welcoming. Jessica had always left a light on in the front of the house as if it was there to guide her daughter home from wherever she had disappeared to and there was always a happy memory in the woman's heart despite the battles she fought over the years. As Agent Fowler turned off the road onto the gravel drive that was shaded by a few trees, the simple home with its worn white paint looked cold despite the bright sunlight. The last time he saw the place was in his rear view mirror. As he was slowly pulled away late in the night, he watched in the mirror as the guiding light the mother had kept lit in hope darkened as she accepted the truth that her daughter would not be returning home.

With a steadying breath, William Fowler got out of his car and willed himself to walk towards it. After what had happened to Ellan, learning that M.E.C.H. was involved, he had stationed men to watch the house. At first, their job was to keep an eye towards the home and make sure that the no-good M.E.C.H. agents stayed away. After Jessica passed they were to make sure no one entered the home.

The jingle of the keys in his hands surprised Fowler as he realized he didn't notice that he had dug his hand into his pocket to fetch the house keys. It took a few moments to find the right keys for the two locks on the door, but eventually he gained access to the home. Looking to the left of the inside of the door, he reached for the switches. Once again the guiding light was on, giving the cold house a bit more of the warmth it once had.

There was a fine layer of dust over the belongings in the home, and there was a faint stale smell to the air, but it had only been a few month since Jessica's passing. Opening a few windows would help freshen up the air, but with how hard he had to struggle to get them to open he could tell that the house was slowly neglected. Recalling his previous visit to the house, he remembered Jessica not looking like she felt well. Succeeding in getting a healthy cross wind through the house, Fowler took a moment to look around.

In the simply furnished living room, that had two well loved plush chairs with a matching couch that outlined the basic part of the room, the walls were filled top to bottom with pictures and certificates. Walking over to one of the walls Fowler slowly looked at the pictures. Many of them were of Jessica and her husband, Stephen, in the early years of their marriage. There were also several photos of the happy family as Ellan had joined the loving couple. There was a whole line of school pictures of Ellan, the young lady not smiling as much in them. School pictures gave way to one that seemed odd, but he remembered it still filled her mother with joy. It was a picture of Ellan in her military uniform right after she graduated from basic training. Jessica has shared with him how proud Ellan had felt at the time; that she would be able to serve and protect her country, a feeling that Fowler had shared when he, too, joined the military.

Near the pictures was a sizeable grouping of diplomas and certificates. Pausing as he read over the one that appeared to be from when Ellan graduated from high school. The name made him frown a bit as he read it out loud. "Ariel Ellan Greer. That's a pretty name."

Looking through the house, Fowler found what appeared to be the master bedroom, the bed having been stripped and the mattress removed, and a young woman's bedroom. It was easily recognizable as Elita's, one whole wall being a bookshelf and overfilled with books. Another wall was a computer desk, whatever organization only the woman knew in the mass piles of papers and books stacked around. There was almost a half hearted attempt made to organize it, most likely done by Jessica either while she was waiting for her daughter to return or after she received the heart breaking news and tried to put her daughter's things away.

The only organized area of the room was the bed, made in a military style which one could bounce a quarter off of it. Fowler was very tempted to just to see if after almost a year it would still bounce, it looked as if it still could.

To the right hand side of the room there were two doors. Opening the first one revealed a rather organized closet. Uniforms to the jobs she had been working at the time hanging or folded on the left hand side, possibly organized by what day she worked her shifts, while on the right hand side rested what little civilian clothing she owned. Her military dress uniform was hanging in a protective bag in the back of the closet over a set of two drawer high filing cabinets. Try as he might, he couldn't get the drawers to budge. Not only were they locked tight, but they had an electronic keypad to them. Whatever Ellan kept in there, she made sure that it was secure.

The second doorway opened into another room, this one easily as large as the master bedroom had been. Inside was a sizeable computer set up in one corner with at least six flat-panel screens over it, all slightly curved in and angled towards the seat, with four different keyboards and mice. A microphone headset hung on a hook off of the bottom right monitor. The back wall of it all looked like a wooden workshop bench with tools and another video monitor hanging on the wall above it while there were several containers that, when Fowler looked in them, contained just about every imaginable computer part all tucked into dark silver bags. The woman certainly knew her way around a computer system…

Before he left the house, Agent Fowler checked the kitchen and the back yard, seeing what was left of a garden that had become overgrown with weeds, before securing the house again. It might take some convincing, and a lot of prep work on his end, but Fowler was sure that Optimus might agree with him that it would be best for Elita to handle this personally, especially when it comes to the computer stuff. Just seeing how she had her things set up, and the care her mother had put into the home, the human liaison to the Autobots felt that this would help her adjust more completely into her new life.

**Author's Note: I don't own the show. Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

Elita sighed as she heard the latest Autobot to join their ranks being loud again. At times she thought he was worse than Miko when she was in one of her jam sessions. Shaking her head, E went back to tending her flourishing garden. The rows were spaced far enough apart that any of her friends could walk through and look, which she found Prime doing from time to time when he was needing a break from the Iacon database, but with slow and steady work she managed to fill the large garage with her food bearing and medicinal plants. In a far corner, right under the ventilation shaft, she had set up a roasting pit. Any large portions of meat she cooked here turned slowly on a spit that was attached to a motor she had just found tucked off in one of the storage rooms. Apparently it was the science fair project that Ratchet "helped" Jack make and the Autobot medic had shown some pleasure over the fact that it was finally being utilized, even though not for its intended purpose.

There were still things that she couldn't grow, like flour, sugar, syrups, milk, among other things, but Agent Fowler was kind enough to bring her a regular supply of those goods. Naturally she 'rewarded' his efforts with baked treats, which gained her even more little surprises from the government liaison. The kitchen, which before had not seen any real human activity in quite a few years, now was as active as it had been if only to feed just a small handful of humans and an Autobot-human hybrid that was doing her best not to strain the energon supply.

"So, um…" she heard and gave an unconscious sigh as her head dropped on both bodies. Smokescreen came walking into her garden again and over to her bot form which was working on the meat she and the kids were going to eat for dinner, "How about you and I go for a drive tonight?"

"Go away," Elita answered through her bot form. He always spoke with her bot form, as if ignorant of the fact that the human and the bot were the same being, though E never openly clarified the facts for him.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" the racing car leaned down towards her as she was crouched to baste the meat on the spit. "I mean, you never leave the base. You're a young, strong fighter like me. Why doesn't Optimus have you out in the field more?"

Elita had gone back to picking her plants as her larger body set down the sizeable bowl, one that the huge mixers in the kitchen used, and the mop that she was using to spread the home made marinade over the meat. "That's because I have orders to stay in the base."

"Don't you ever get tired of being cooped up in here?" the noob asked pointedly. "I mean, come on, when are ever without your human? I at least see the other humans leave this place, but yours stays here."

"That's because I live here, too," Elita called over from her plants, "If you weren't too busy ignoring me then you would have realized that."

"Oh!" Smokescreen cleared his throat, "Well, I guess that makes sense then."

It was as he was stumbling over his words that Agent Fowler walked into the room. With a quick look around the plants, he spotted whom he wished to speak with. "Elita, may I speak with you," and he cast a meaningful glare up at Smokescreen, "alone?"

"Uh, yeah… sure…" and he left, frowning a bit at the Elita's back as he did. Agent Fowler was apparently the human that had set up all the rules for the Autobots to follow, at least that was Smokescreen's understanding of the matter. Honestly, the Elite-Guard personally wasn't fond of the idea, but it was what Optimus followed and he was going to prove himself to the greatest Autobot leader ever.

Agent Fowler watched the newest recruit leave and shook his head once the new guy was out of sight. Optimus had filled Fowler in about Smokescreen on his first return meeting with the Autobots since his little drive in Colorado almost two weeks ago. The 'kid' was too impulsive at times, and Fowler knew too many young men like that that never got the chance to become old men, or kept others from growing old. Elita had walked over to him by this time, setting down her sizeable basket of freshly picked food as her larger form picked up the mop to baste the meat again. "You staying for dinner?"

"Well, since you've offered," Fowler smiled, taking a deep whiff of the cooking meat before he turned a bit more serious. "I just got done speaking with Optimus."

"About?" she asked as they walked over to her larger form.

"About you getting a reprieve from here," he answered quietly. At her little, airy laugh he continued, "We kept an eye on your mother's home since your ties to M.E.C.H. became more obvious, and after her passing." Elita's puzzled face turned towards him, but she didn't say anything. "Honestly, we've been at a bit of a loss about what to do with it. Technically it's yours, but officially you're dead. No one felt right about going in there so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I've okayed it with Optimus, if you want to go back there and pack your belongings."

Elita gave a teary smile at Agent Fowler's and Optimus Prime's thoughtfulness. "I can help you out with deciding what to do with things, at least. Thank you, Bill."

"You're welcome, Elita," then he raised a questioning eyebrow, "Why did you go by Ellan? Ariel is a beautiful name."

Elita smiled as she picked up the basket, her larger form putting out the fire and taking the spit of meat in its hands as they began to walk towards the kitchen. "I was named after my grandmother, who a great woman and I didn't feel right in using it."

"I take it strong-willed women run in the family?" Fowler asked as he took the basket from Elita as they made their way to the kitchen.

"I come from a long line of fighters," she explained, "everyone of them doing her best to stand beside her husband and family and do what she needed to for them. I just hope that one day I'll maybe come close to being as strong as they were."

"In my opinion," he said as he was handing her the produce from the basket as she began to put them away into different bins in the large refrigerators, "I think that they would be very proud of you as you are right now."

That gained him a smirk as she moved over to grab the large slab of meat and spit from her larger form and set it on the island work table, carrying it as if it was almost hollow. "Your grandmother's cookies are in the third cabinet to the left, second shelf."

With a child-like glee, the federal agent quickly went to the location she specified and pulled down the large, square container, and quickly pried off the lid. Taking out a sizeable cookie, he chomped down on it with delight as he held the container in his other arm. "Ya know," he said between bites, "you're the only one that has even gotten close to making her cookies like she use to. Momma couldn't even do it."

"What can I say?" Elita shrugged as she was washing the large metal pole in the huge sink, "I don't get to do much anymore except be a stay-at-home-bot."

Outside, around the corner of the hallway, Smokescreen was peeking around as he watched Elita as she just knelt there while the two humans were talking in the kitchen. It wasn't making sense to him why she was being so submissive to her human like she was. They even stayed in the same room at night. In his opinion, Elita-One was just too pretty to just be some at the will of just some random human.

Well, he'd just have to bring up this issue later. It was one thing to be these creatures' protectors; it's a whole other thing to be their servants. If he wanted to be a slave, he would have joined up with the Decepticons or not bothered to have escaped at all.

**Author's Note: I don't own the show. **

For those of you who possibly do not know, Ariel was Elita-One's name before she became Elita-One in G1. We had also used the name in real life so to save on some confusion I changed Ariel's "first name" to Ellan.


	3. Chapter 3

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

Elita had spent the night, after the kids and Agent Fowler had been fed and left for their own homes, cooking and packing the food that she would need to take with her into the storage compartments on her larger form. Since her mother had passed away, E knew that the house was probably in need of some TLC.

With Ratchet's and Optimus' original concerns about the Decepticons getting their hands on her and finding out that her smaller form created energon, Prime had decided that he would go with her as protection. It also allowed her to let her pack her belongings in his trailer to bring back to the base.

Early that morning Elita was finishing up her round of monitoring duty, in her whole body to get as much contact with both forms as she could before she left. Ratchet stepped into the room and over to her.

"How are you feeling?" the medic asked quietly, fighting the urge to scan her.

"Nervous," she replied, smiling at him, "I need this, but I don't know if I want it."

Nodding, Ratchet gave a throaty affirming sound, "There is no one else better qualified to take care of both yours and your mother's belongings, and I doubt you'd feel comfortable with anyone else doing so, even Agent Fowler."

Elita nodded, "It's my burden, not his. He's already done so much for me for me to just ditch this onto him."

Optimus was pulling his trailer into the main room, facing the whole thing towards the ground bridge tunnel before disengaging from it, transforming into his bi-pedal form, and walking over to where Elita and Ratchet were speaking. "We will depart as soon as you are ready, Elita."

A smile brightened on her face as she gave her commander an appreciative nod. "Will be in a few minutes," she replied, letting her optics power down before her front opened up. With her larger right hand ready to catch her smaller body, Elita stepped out onto it and let her bot body's front seal shut as she lifted herself up to the seat on her right shoulder.

Before they could speak further on the subject a roar of engines began to echo through the drive tunnel, signaling that the others had just dropped the kids off at school and had returned to gain their assignments for the day. Transforming themselves, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead greeted and were greeted in return by the others. Smokecreen soon joined the group and Optimus began to issue the orders for the day.

Bulkhead, who had been trying to hide his grimaces from the others from the twinge of pain he had been feeling over the past week, stumbled as his right leg gave out as he began to walk further into the base. It was his day for cleaning some in the base and he was glad for it for once, but as Bumblebee and Optimus were both quick to keep him from falling he realized that he wasn't going to be able to hide his pain any longer; especially when Ratchet started to run his scans.

"Bulkhead," the medic sounded worried, "how long has this been going on?"

"Um," the huge green hummer tried to smile as he got himself back up onto his feet, "how long has what been going on?"

"You've been hanging around Miko for too long," Arcee informed him, letting the Wrecker know that none of them were buying his 'innocent' act.

Giving a sigh, Bulkhead's shoulders dropped, "About a week. It got worse last night, but I figured I was just staying in my vehicle mode for too long."

Ratchet dropped his arm, frowning, "It looks to be some residual damage from the Tox-En. You're in no condition to be leaving the base until we get this cleared up."

"I'm fine! Really!" the green bot insisted, but Ratchet's persistent scolding told him that he wasn't going to win.

Elita, Arcee, and Smokescreen followed and watched as the others helped move their companion over to the medical area and Ratchet begin to do all his scans over their friend. Since he was the only known case to have survived the exposure to the toxic energon, there was quite a bit that they did not know how it was going to affect him in the long run. Apparently developing some mobility issues was one of them. The part that was bothering them the most was they had no idea if it was going to get worse, and if so how much.

Stepping over to Optimus, Elita climbed from her shoulder to his. The Prime glanced at her as she carefully made her way up before turning his attention back to Ratchet and Bulkhead. "We don't have to leave today," she whispered in his audio receptor, "It's waited this long and Bulkhead might need the support."

Optimus nodded, "I will think on this." Satisfied with his answer E slowly climbed back down onto her own shoulder and moved over to the monitoring station.

Smokescreen eyed the human warily as it sat there on Elita's shoulder while the bot manned the station. This put a kink in his plans to speak with Elita today while the human woman was suppose to leave with Optimus to handle whatever business she had to attend to. Seriously, these humans were becoming a real drag.

A couple hours later, Ratchet had managed to get the others to go about their duties for the day by assuring them that he would update them if there was anything urgent enough to call them. Having caught Smokescreen eyeing Elita with questionable intent Ratchet had managed to shift Bulkhead's cleaning duty to him. The newest Autobot was making the medic uneasy with how he had been regarding the fem since his arrival, but any time Ratchet had questioned Elita about it she had simply brushed it off. Aside from reading the medical books to him, Ratchet had noticed that she wasn't as open to him as she was before she had ended up in that alternate reality that had the Rescuebots. With a slight frown the medic wondered: was she nursing a broken heart over Chief Charlie Burns?

Glancing over from the monitor station as Elita and Optimus were speaking near the trailer, the human still sitting on the shoulder of her bot form, as they were finalizing their plans. The medic was wishing to speak to her but now was not the time for what needed to be said.

Elita used her larger hand to lower herself to the ground before transforming her larger bot body into its vehicle mode. Optimus had walked over to the front of his trailer and transformed into his truck form before back up to latch onto the trailer. At the back of the trailer, while the door opened up for her, Elita was waiting next to her robotic form to load it.

Smokescreen, who had stepped into the main room to watch their departure, was frowning as he was holding the large mop Elita had made. Again the human woman was giving her bot orders, this time as she patted the back wheel cover like Elita was a pet before she rolled into the trailer. Why wasn't she driving on her own? Why did she have to ride in Optimus' trailer instead of riding free? He was really beginning to dislike her human ward, giving an unknown glare at the woman as she walked around to the passenger side of Optimus' cab and climbed in.

Ratchet had moved over to the ground bridge controls and opened the portal. Optimus informed his dear friend that he would be in contact later before pulling into the portal, it winking shut behind them. As he moved back over to the medical station to read over Bulkhead's latest scan, Ratchet saw the racing car just standing there staring at the ground bridge tunnel. Shaking his head, the medic mumbled under his breath about the newest Autobot as he walked away.

**Author's Note: I don't own Transformers Prime. **

I know it's slow, but thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

_[Location: Fort Lockheart Army Base, Central Colorado]_

The soldiers present in the middle of the vehicle storage field on the inside of the base watched in awe as the bright green light of the ground bridge portal opened in the empty space they left open for such visitations. Shortly after the portal's appearance a large red and blue semi-truck carefully drove through, pulling behind it a silver trailer with an Autobot symbol towards the front of the sides. The vehicle slowed to a stop, allowing the passenger to disembark.

Prime had pulled up close to where Special Agent Fowler was waiting, General Bryce at his side. The General had wished to see the Autobot leader again during a less stressful meeting, but he also wished to meet with Ellan Greer, a woman he had heard much about before, while she was serving in the military, and even more so from Agent Fowler since her disappearance and 'rescue' from M.E.C.H. by the Autobots. At her request, she had asked Agent Fowler to not give the military a full disclosure on what had happened due to the possible leak of the information and the consequences of it getting to M.E.C.H.. Elita didn't doubt that M.E.C.H. thought she was still alive, especially after the specific virus they had used on her, but the last thing she wanted their enemies to know was exactly how she had survived.

Elita, wearing a pair of sunglasses that she had picked up a while back when she was doing scouting missions around people, walked up to the two men and saluted. Returning the gesture, General Bryce released the salute and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Greer."

"Sorry we're late," she stated, "I had to knock a few heads around on who was going to be taking over cleaning duties at the base while I was absent." E smiled at Agent Fowler's snicker which he hid quickly by coughing into his fist.

"I… see," the General peeked around her to look at Optimus, "I have arranged for an escort and guards during your stay."

"All due respect, General," Elita interrupted in a slightly agitated tone that even surprised Fowler, "with what is already at the house and my present guard," she motioned back to Optimus, "is well sufficient. I'd prefer not to draw more attention than necessary. So if it's all the same to you I'll pass on the entourage."

The General was stunned silent for a moment. "I understand," he told her after a moment, recalling what he had read in her file. With a final nod to both men, Elita turned on her heels and started back to the waiting Autobot and climbed into the passenger seat before the truck slowly pulled away from the crowd of soldiers.

General Bryce frowned thoughtfully, thinking on what he had read in her file as he and the others present watched the semi leaving the base. It was the lack of a superior officer's attention to the harassment and threats she had began to receive after Project: Damocles had been shut down that had forced her to retire from the military. Military Intelligence had their eye on the young woman after they had discovered her computer skills shortly after she had graduated from basic training. Somehow instead of being assigned to their sub-branch she ended up getting assigned to work under Colonel Bishop in special tactics, a role she filled in well but apparently didn't appreciate being pulled into the darker side of humanity in war.

When Agent Fowler had reported to him that the Autobots had somehow found Ellan Greer "severely injured" and "recovering" in their care after being rescued from M.E.C.H., it gave the General a bit more of an edge to finding out who exactly was moonlighting under Silas' command. Also, any request that she had made for supplies for her stay with the Autobots he had accepted and even added a prevision of funds for other items she might need that Agent Fowler was not able to come by easily.

Turning to the man next to him, the General nodded to his puzzled look, "Good job, Special Agent Fowler. Ask her if she'd make me a batch of those cookies the next time, would you?"

As the commanding officer walked off, Agent Fowler only blinked a couple times before chuckling with a shake of his head. He had brought some of the cookies Elita had baked for him in his lunch box and General Bryce had called him into his office to be updated on when the Autobots would be coming to the base. Fowler had a mug of coffee in one hand and one of the sizeable cookies in the other and when he noticed the General eyeing the treat, naturally Fowler offered it to him. If she wasn't careful, Elita would end up doing more baking for them than cooking for herself.

_[On the road]_

It was a good three and a half hour drive from the base to her childhood home. She had always enjoyed the drive, the scenery beautiful no matter the season. Right now the leaves on the trees were just starting their turn from lush green to their fall pallet. Within the week they would be everything from bright yellows, golden oranges, and lush amber browns. For the first hour they rode in companionable silence, Prime focusing on driving on the overall quiet roadways and Elita staring out of the window, her video camera resting in her lap.

Optimus could tell she was listening to music to herself, some of it playing through her larger form in his trailer. It seemed her tastes in the audio frequencies ranged from some soothing mass instrumental works to a lot of what Miko seemed to enjoy. Her commander even began to wonder if she noticed when she began to sing, all be it quietly, to herself from time to time. When she began to suddenly shuffle through her music quickly, barely letting one song play before moving to another, he knew that there was something she was thinking on. When Elita finally silenced the audio files Prime only had to wait for a couple miles before she began to speak.

"Optimus, do you ever wish you could go back in time and change the past?" Elita was still looking out of the passenger window.

"As difficult as things have been," the wise Autobot replied gently, "changing the past would not guarantee a better future. It is what you learn from your life's experiences that help you prepare and adapt to your future."

Nodding, E took a long while to think on what he had said. "I understand that. It just," she puffed a bit of hair out of her face, "sometimes I feel like you all can do this without me." Then her stomach growled, making her giggle with a blush. "There's a truck stop a few miles ahead on the right hand side. Do you mind if we stop there so I can grab some food to eat?"

"I suppose that is acceptable," her commander replied and they fell back into their silence.

The building she had described to Prime came up on the other side of a small town. A busy little place that reminded Optimus of the out of the way spot that he had scanned his current vehicle form, finding the larger trucks better suited to his size. Pulling around the building, he stopped to the side and kept his scanners on high for any threat.

Elita promised to be quick as she hopped to the ground, shutting the door, and made her way towards the building. Between Prime and the main hub of the truck stop there was a famliar antique truck parked in a spot close to the building. Elita smiled as she saw her 'old friend', dated rounded design, with faded white paint splotched with a few rusty patches and the faded wooden slats added to the truck bed. She would see it there from time to time when she'd drive to and from the base. Nobody she knew locally owned the truck and no one could ever tell her who owned it. It would just appear, be there for a little while, and disappear again. She had an eye for antique cars and trucks and this was one she really wished she could have bought.

Rubbing a loving hand over the front of it, Elita cooed down at it, "Hey there, handsome. Long time no see. Never did find out who you belonged to." Gently patting the fender she started to move away, "Nothing beats the old reliable friends in our lives."

Prime was glad he didn't have to wait long, though the stuffed plastic bag and her carrying a two liter of soda under her arm made him worry a bit. Apparently there were other foods that humans consumed aside from what she grew in her garden. He observed her gently patting the front of the old truck one more time as she passed it again before she hopped back into his cab.

"Thanks, boss," she said somewhat cheerfully as he pulled back out onto the open road. A short time later, the antique truck slowly pulled out onto the roadway itself, continuing on its journey.

Elita took some time to eat the hot foods she had bought, much to Optimus' confusion over why she was being so giggly over the event. He even expressed bewilderment when she said, "Don't tell Ratchet about this."

"Why would I not tell Ratchet that you ingested fuel?"

"Because it's not exactly healthy food that I'm enjoying right now," she replied between bites. "He would get after me about producing bad energon for my body."

"If you know that it is not healthy for you to consume, then why do humans do so?"

"Because it tastes good," she answered simply as she crumpled up the wrapper and shoved it into another plastic bag, "and I think of it as a treat for eating all the good stuff all the rest of the time." Things went quiet again as she dug out a bag of gummy worms and she chewed on a couple before she just suddenly asked Prime, "Hey Optimus, what is the significance of saying 'One shall stand and one shall fall'?"

"It was what the gladiators in the Pits of Kaon use to state at the beginning of their battles," he replied, impressing her with not hesitating to answer.

"But you weren't a gladiator."

"No," he replied calmly, "but I was trained by one."

Realization washed over her, making her pause as she was pulling out another gummy worm. "Megatron trained you to fight."

"Correct. Before we both stood before the Counsel of Primes, Megatron had told me that I must be prepared to defend myself in case of an uprising against our cause."

"Instead he became the uprising," Elita frowned as she bit one of the gummies in half. "I have a feeling that he taught you enough to fight against others, but not enough to possibly stand against him."

"Again, you are correct," Optimus informed her as he slowed to turn off of the two lane highway onto a junction road, "My fighting skills were augmented when I became a Prime."

Elita nodded, remembering some of the visions she was given while in the warm embrace of Vector Sigma. The mystic system had given her an overall history of the fall of Cybertron and it given her a physical connection to the planet she was now a part of; but it didn't give her any more details on who the fighters were other than their names. Ratchet answered some of her inquiries, but Elita remembered taking road trips as a child with her parents and in asking about her father's childhood learned so much about the man. Also, there was no better opportunity to ask Optimus all that she wanted or needed to than now while they were away from the base and the others.

Smirking, Elita finished off her last gummy worm. "Who had filled in Smokescreen about me?"

"Ratchet had said he had taken care of that," Prime replied, "Why?"

E was digging in her bag of goodies again, "I don't think he understood exactly what I am." Pulling out the only non-edible item in the bag, Prime's passenger opened her prize and hung the pine scented paper tree from the grip handle by her door. Gently flicking it with a finger to make it spin around a bit, Elita settled in for the rest of the trip.

**Author's Note: I don't own the show.**

Come on! You've all seen the truck, too!


	5. Chapter 5

_[Location: Outskirts of a small town in north-central Colorado, the Greer home]_

Optimus Prime skillfully backed down the long driveway, the back of his trailer just a hair's breadth away from the garage door. He sat there, waiting patiently for his passenger to decide when she wished to exit his cab. The security detail that Agent Fowler had placed around the home calmly radioed to both Autobots about the situation of the perimeter of the home and the sizeable yard surrounding it. With everyone checked in, Elita decided now was the time to gather up her courage and enter her childhood home.

Prime felt how shaky her hands were on the arm rest of the chair and so when she reached for the handle of the door he had actually opened it for her. It gained him a quiet, but honest, thank you from her before she slipped out of the cab. The gravel under her feet crunched; a familiar sound to her ears, as E hopped out. She stood there for the longest time staring at the house, with the warm beacon of light shining in the cool autumn air. It was the light that Elita had kept on every day her mother was in the hospital, and from Fowler had told her, Ellan's mother kept the light on every day she was missing.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Elita squared her shoulders and began to walk towards the front door. Her hands had fished out the keys in her pocket and unlocked the door with ease, entering the house. The memories flooded in as soon as she stepped inside.

She recalled sitting on her father's lap at night as he read to her while her mother sat in the other worn chair to work on the mending pile. Another memory was that of sitting at the dining room table as she helped her mother decorate cupcakes for a school bake sale. Another was sitting at the piano as her mother taught her how to play.

Elita closed the door behind her and made her way over to the windows to let in some fresh air and sunlight. Looking at the living room again she saw the large collection of cardboard boxes, all flat and stacked neatly, and packing tape bundled up on or against the couch. She had to thank Agent Fowler for his consideration of the supplies. Moving through into the kitchen, E opened both the window above the sink and the screen back door.

The garden out back looked like it had not been tended to longer than her mother had been gone. The house looked as if her mother was having trouble maintaining it inside as well. The mending pile between the chairs had hardly been touched since the last time Elita had seen it. A glance through the cabinets showed that her mother had not shopped recently before her passing either and the refrigerator was nearly empty.

The next room she visited was her mother's room. It was heartbreaking to see the empty four poster bed frame. It had been in the family for years, witnessing many births and deaths in its long life, the most recent being her mother's passing. She had to close her eyes as she shut the door, the emotion washing over her the longer she looked was overwhelming. Elita would have to face the room again, but not yet.

The next room she stepped foot in was her own bedroom. At first she just stood at the doorway, her glowing blue eyes taking it all in. Her mother had been in here, her desk was proof of that. Walking over to her bed E had to smirk as she pulled open the nightstand drawer, pulled out a quarter, and flipped it onto the bed. It bounced, just not as high as it use to. Not bad for being untouched for almost three years. Even when she was home Elita didn't really sleep, between all of her jobs and taking care of her mother there wasn't time for sleep.

She bee-lined for the closet as a huge smile spread over her face. June and Jack were sweethearts with giving her the clothing, but there was nothing better than wearing something she was comfortable with. Grabbing a shirt towards the top of the folded pile on her casual clothing side, Elita smiled as she shook it out and read it: 10 + 10 = 100. She loved her binary code shirts. With a change into her own clothing a moment later, a pair of roughed up blue jeans that had a hole in one knee and the other starting to match, sneakers, and the shirt she picked out, Elita focused on the most pressing thing in the closet.

Opening up the panel to expose the keypad, E began to input her code to unlock the file cabinet. A beep of acceptance preceded the bottom drawer popping open. Pulling on the handle, Elita knelt down as it pulled free, exposing a keyboard with a panel along the top that would fit different types of file storage devices from USB to floppy disks. Typing on the keyboard she began to boot up the system, making the top drawer unlock and slide open on its own, a flat screen monitor moving up into view. Checking the computer's log E was able to relax back. Only one person had attempted to access it while she was away and the time fit with when Agent Fowler said he had last visited the house.

The filing cabinet was a computer that Elita had stored every unique virus she had come across fixing other's computers along with quite a few virus' she coded herself. A dangerous weapon if it ended up in the wrong hands, her virus vault. With a sigh of relief, she shut the hidden computer down and locked it back up before exiting the closet.

Her next move was into her computer workshop. As the overhead light sputtered to life it brought back a flood of memories, some of them had been bad, but mostly they were good ones. In her life Elita had learned one thing: machines are simple, people are complicated. There was a quiet joy she felt either rooting around in a computer case or getting her hands dirty working on a car, at least there was until she was abducted by Silas' motley crew.

Nodding to herself, this was the room that Elita decided to start in. It held most of the stuff that she would be taking with her and the far wall was the garage door. It would be the most traveled through room and the less in the way the better. Going back to the living room E grabbed an armload of boxes and a couple rolls of tape; she had cutting and marking materials in her bedroom already.

Optimus had been aware of Elita-One's vehicular mode moving around a bit in his trailer, but only gave it a passing though since she wasn't moving more than an inch or two forward or back at a time. Then the quiet of the bird song was altered slightly as a noise began to come from the house. Adjusting his mirrors when there was a sudden metallic rustle behind him as the garage door opened upward, the noise level increasing. It was something close to what Miko called music, but Prime could understand the words being sung, at least most of the time.

He felt the weight on the back of his trailer as somebody climbed up and began to undo the locks in the back. He had to fight the urge to do it all for her, but on the way down Elita had mentioned growing up with an extremely nosy neighbor and warned him that any unusual movement for an 18-wheeler to do on its own should be kept to a minimum. But there were some things that he would still do, like lift his own door for her as she put her hand on the handle to do it. It was as she was climbing into the trailer that he heard over the communicator, "Thank you."

"You are welcome, Elita," he replied over the comm..

Elita slowly pulled her bike form forward, letting it rest towards the back of the trailer before she hopped off to pull out the built in ramp. Using his mirrors to watch, Optimus saw her carrying large boxes into his trailer one at a time until the garage was emptied out. Even the large wooden worktable was loaded up. Then she pulled her bike form into the garage, but parked it off to the side. It was when she walked through the internal door and back out carrying a large stuffed animal, heading towards his cab, that he became confused. Opening up the passenger side of his cab, Elita tossed the toy up into her seat before climbing up herself. With a pleased smile she moved it over to the driver's seat, taking the time to situate it 'just right', making the stuffed animal sit there and stare in a forlorn way at the steering wheel.

"Optimus, this is Eeyore. I promise he'll be a good passenger," Elita explained after she shut the door. "My father had given him to me shortly before he passed and I wanted to make sure he wasn't hurt on the way back." Then she got quiet as she gently played with one of the stuffed donkey's ears. "I know you're here to guard me, but you don't have to stay Optimus. It's going to be a while between packing and deciding what to keep and what to not take with me. I would appreciate it if you did leave me the trailer to load though," she added with a bit of humor.

"If Ratchet informs me that I am needed, then I will departat that time," Prime had informed her, "but I do not feel it is your best interest to leave."

"I promise that I'll keep Ratchet in my ear if you have to go," she told him with a smile. "I also know that there are some things that cannot wait for me to finish. I can defend myself Optimus. I'm not helpless."

"I do not doubt your skills. If I am needed elsewhere and I feel that things are ideal here, then I will trust your judgment."

"I better get back to it then," Elita moved to open the door, "I should be done sometimes today. I've got most of it packed up in boxes. I'm just glad I'm strong enough to move the furniture by myself."

As the door shut behind her, Prime sat in overall silence once more. The stuffed donkey was just sitting there, staring at the steering wheel, so he did the only thing he could think of. "Hello, Eeyore."

**Author's Note: I do not own TF: Prime, Eeyore is the property of Disney, and as far as I know her shirt only exists in my head.**

Saw someone's video on You Tube they had taken at a convention with Mr. Cullen and I just found it adorable and couldn't resist. Eeyore was my favorite when I was growing up, mostly because I knew he just needed a few great big hugs.


	6. Chapter 6

The Road Once Travled – Ch 6

_[Location: Greer Home] Timeframe: The Human Factor_

Elita was sitting on the back of her bike form as she finished off the food that she had packed in her shoulder compartments. Tipping the gallon jug of sweet tea completely upside down to finish off what was left, she let her list of things to do replay over in her head. The rest of the house had been packed up in the boxes Agent Fowler had kindly provided and waiting to be loaded, but she was saving the most difficult room for after dinner: her mother's.

With a deep sigh, E slipped off of the back bench of her bike form and walked back into the house. It was feeling empty, almost abandoned, with each item packed away into its cardboard container. Only once in her life had her home ever felt that way before, when her mother was in the hospital.

It took less than half an hour for her to load everything already packed in the back of the trailer. As silly as it would probably sound to everyone else, Elita even disconnected and packed the bathtub. It was an antique cast-iron claw-foot tub that was original to the house when her grandparents first built it. Compared to all the other tubs Elita had run across in her life, which were so small in comparison, she was determined to keep it. A bit of modification to her room and she'd be able to use it. Granted she was the only one to use the locker room showers, but she never cared for that open of a space for such private matters and there was a high level of discomfort using them.

It was as she was setting the heavy bath basin in the back of the trailer that Optimus called her. "Elita, Special Agent Fowler has just contacted us about possible M.E.C.H. activity and we need to return back to our base."

"I have one last room to get packed up." Elita bit her bottom lip as she looked back towards the open door, the afternoon light shining in through the far windows of her old room. "Permission to stay behind until Fowler gets to base? I promise I'll bridge as soon as he gets there." When Prime stayed silent for a bit longer than she was comfortable with, Elita added, "Please? I just have this one last room to deal with."

There was an undertone to her voice that Prime picked up, making him feel as if this issue was really important to her. "I will have Ratchet open a ground bridge for you as soon as Agent Fowler arrives at the base."

"Thank you, Optimus."

Elita quickly shut up the back of his trailer, giving it a couple pats before watching him slowly pull off. In the thick canopy of trees that shielded the driveway she watched a ground bridge portal open up and her commanding officer drive into the swirl of colors before it winked shut. Elita wasted no time in shutting the garage door tightly and rushing back into the house. She swiftly grabbed the last few boxes and hurried into her mother's room. Breakables were wrapped up in clothing, pictures packed carefully amongst the delicate figurines that were her mother's collection. It was when she got to the nightstand and began clear the objects on it into that she discovered her mother's journal.

Her hands refused to listen to her, wanting to pack it away, but her fingers were flipping through the pages before she realized what she was doing. It would be painful to read, she knew that just by seeing it, but as she settled on one particular date she had to sit on the box spring that rested on the empty bed frame. Everything around her fell silent as she read her mother's words.

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

Optimus had just disconnected his trailer, leaving it off to the side, and slowly made his way over to Ratchet. The Autobot medic blinked as an odd scent crossed his olfactory sensors, "Is that pine?" Prime looked down at his torso plating as Ratchet moved closer to inspect the source of the smell, pulling free the tiny paper tree that was dangling from his friend's side. "What is this?"

The small tree reminded Optimus of his passenger. Opening part of his torso plating, Prime pulled free his dour looking companion and handed the stuffed donkey to Ratchet as the proximity sensors began to go off. Looking even more confused as he took the stuffed animal, the old Autobot just simply passed the objects to Miko, who began to coo over the toy as she hugged it while she walked over to where Jack was finishing up talking to Rafael on the phone. It was after school Friday, the start of the weekend, but apparently school progress reports had been sent out. Their youngest member had been grounded due to what his mother had deemed "bad grades".

Optimus was about to give the order for the ground bridge to be reopened when the elevator doors rushed open. The first words out of Agent Fowler's mouth were, "Where's Elita?"

"I was about to have Ratchet bridge her back from her home," Prime answered calmly.

"It might be best for her to stay there," the human said quickly, making the medic pause at the controls.

"And why, may I ask," Ratchet began a bit sarcastically, "is that?" He had been dealing with an argumentative Bulkhead all day, the Wrecker not wanting to listen about taking it easy. The scans he had taken were showing only slight damage to the nerves in his body, but Bulkhead hated the idea of being idle. Smokescreen did little to help, at least in the medic's point of view, especially when agitating Bulkhead with the Apex-armor only resulted in damaging Ratchet's main work station.

"Because this is about the base she used to be stationed at."

_[Location: Greer Home]_

Elita looked up from the journal, noticing that it had grown darker outside. Ratchet should have contacted her by now. Tucking the book into the box on the bed, she rushed through the house to her vehicle mode. "Elita to Ratchet, open a ground bridge, please."

There was no reply over the communicator, but soon the swirl of light burst open in front of her, which she rushed through.

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

The ground bridge shut down behind her as she pulled into the main room. Ratchet was giving Bulkhead instructions, but she could feel the tension in the air. Apparently she had been forgotten in the rush to whatever mission Agent Fowler had sent them on. The kids were even missing, which was very odd for a Friday night.

Merging and transforming, Elita walked up to the two left in base. "What's going on? It's been almost two whole hours since Prime left. I thought…" As her eyes caught the screens behind them, she lost the words to speak. A familiar nightmare was before her. Then she suddenly firmed, trying to control the wash of anger. "This is why you didn't call me back to base? I knew they had moth-balled it, and really I'm not surprised that Silas got it functional." Looking back at Ratchet, Elita took a deep breath, "What can I do?"

"Rafael is already working on a solution," the medic answered and he looked back at Bulkhead, "You better hurry."

With a nod, Bulkhead smoothly transformed into his vehicle mode and took off through the ground bridge tunnel. Elita watched him go and focused back on Ratchet as he walked over to the remaining functional control station. As usual she was left out of the missions, but this one was different. This one was hers to begin with. She apparently had failed the first time in shutting Damocles down for good; it should be her responsibility to shut it down now.

While Ratchet was so focused on running the command center that Elita was able to quietly make her way over to the exit to the outside, transform, and take off. The medic of course noticed her leaving, but when he tried to call out to her he received no response over the communicator. He was grumbling until the incoming communications alert went off, but the caller was silent; Bulkhead's call never completing due to the corrupted energon he was nearby. Without any other choice, the Autobot medic called for back-up from the group already in the field.

_[Location: Outskirts of Jasper, Nevada]_

There were very few times that her anger ever got the best of her, but right now was one of those times. Elita wasn't sure where she was driving, she just had to. She was glad that it had stopped raining, since she didn't even bothering to put on her helmet. As she drove over the highway overpass that bridged across the sizeable ditch she stopped as she spotted Bulkhead and Breakdown battling and the discoloration over the water in the huge ditch as a ground bridge opened up and Smokescreen rushed out.

It was as the newest Autobot was helping the Wrecker to his feet that Elita realized she had to act. Breakdown was stalking towards them, lifting his hammer in preparation to strike.

"One new guy to another," she heard a familiar voice say, a voice that made her already boiling anger spike, "this is your final day on the job." Then the damaged Decepticon rushed towards her teammates. The fight was on.

While he was still bent over from his striking blow, Silas, or C.Y.L.A.S. as he called himself, was rather surprised when something hit him harshly on his hindquarters, which sent him sprawling into the crater he just created. Quickly getting back up to his feet, he focused on the being behind him as the dust still separated him from his two original targets.

"And who are you?" he snarled at the red and gray, fem-styled bot before him.

"Project: Adaptation," she replied, her torso splitting open. Cylas' jaw dropped as he focused on the humanoid woman that was secured inside the bot before him. The woman, who was hauntingly familiar, opened her brightly glowing eyes and looked right at him, "and you're a poor copy, Bishop."

"Ellan Greer," he snarled at her, "Do you think you're worthy of being with the gods?"

Her torso sealed shut as her right hand transformed into her sniper rifle. "No," she aimed at him, "but you stole my life from me. You denied me my mother's last days."

Cylas was not prepared as she shot at his head, the bullet digging a deep gorge as it grazed across his helm. Behind him Bulkhead and Smokescreen slowly stepped through the swirls of dust, taking advantage of the distracted Decepticon. He didn't stand a chance against three Autobots as they pin-balled him around with their blows until Smokescreen sent him flying back with a kick. When the rotting mech received his call to return to Megatron's fold, Cylas launched his shoulder mounted missile at his attackers, making them scatter before escaping into a ground bridge portal.

Watching the broken down body of Breakdown run, the heroes focused up into the sky as the satellite burned apart in reentry. Taking a deep breath, Elita blinked at what appeared to be a bit of closure. She still felt her anger, but the project that had begun the end of her human life was gone now. Rafael did what she failed to do, and she was proud of him for it. She heard the other two celebrating behind her, the newest in their ranks telling Bulkhead about how he had read up on the Wreckers, and left them to it until Smokescreen called to her.

"And you," he started, his usual exuberance bubbling over that made her think Miko was the calmest of their group, "were awesome! See! You should get out of the base more often _and away_ from that human of yours that keeps you on such a tight leash."

"Um, Smokescreen," Bulkhead started until he caught the look Elita gave the Wrecker with a shake of her head before she simply turned and walked away. "Let's… get back to base." With a call to the base, Bulkhead requested a ground bridge.

**Author's Note: I don't own the show.**


	7. Chapter 7

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

Despite the successful mission, Optimus Prime still spoke privately with Elita-One about her disobeying orders. She wanted to argue her point, give her point of view of the events and why she chose to do so, but it still didn't change the facts. She disobeyed and she did not argue with him about it. Ratchet, who was allowed to stay during the matter, was sympathetic to both sides. He could tell when she had returned the first time that there was something wrong. Something she was keeping to herself.

Prime did let Elita return to her old home to finish moving things, Arcee going with the other fem to help keep guard while Ratchet listened to what little conversation that the ladies had while they were away. They had returned a short time later, both pushing the carts that contained what few belongings were left at the house.

Quietly thanking Arcee for her help, Elita quietly took her belongings to her room and began the long process of unloading Prime's trailer, which happen to fit nicely in the hallway outside her door. In the quiet of the night, while Optimus was working on decoding the Iacon database, Ratchet gently made his way down the hall to Elita's quarters. Since there was sufficient clearance, Elita was using her larger form to carry the items into her room, while her smaller one unloaded the trailer. By how slow both forms were moving, she really was in no rush to finish.

As her humanoid body was walking out of the trailer Ratchet lowered one of his hands to take the box. It gained him a smile, albeit a strained, tired one. With the other he passed to her the stuffed toy donkey, "Miko had left this on the couch so I thought I should return it to you."

"Thanks for noticing," Elita said as she took it in her arms and gave it a gentle hug. Looking back up at him, she passed the toy to her larger form. "What brings you this way? Heading for a recharge?"

"Checking on a friend," he replied, kneeling down towards her. "It's not like you to outright disobey an order, Elita."

She sighed, walking back into the trailer for the next box. "I'm not ready to talk about it, Ratchet."

"Are you sure?" he asked as he passed the box to her larger form. Her robotic face looked sad, tired, and lonesome. When she stepped back out he took the box she was holding from her and passed it up to her larger form. "I know it must hurt to have packed your life away from the home you grew-up in." When she didn't turn back around to go into the trailer again, the medic knew that he had her on the edge of speaking. As she focused up at him, he waited for her to ready herself.

"I found my mother's last journal," she started out, "Ratchet, remember how I told you that my mother had urged me to go out, to have fun? The same night I was kidnapped." He nodded and waited for her to continue. "She didn't tell me she had a doctor's appointment that day while I was working. I didn't think twice about when she would come to town and spend the whole day there while I was working. I was happy to take care of her so she could relax like that. The cancer came back, Ratchet. She found out that morning and wanted me to have a day to spoil myself before she told me."

His jaw dropped, words impossible to find. The medic didn't realize he reached out to her until he felt her tiny hand on his pointer digit as she continued. "When I didn't come home she felt responsible for my going missing, but had held onto hope that I'd return, or get a hold of her somehow. That was until Agent Fowler gave her my ashes. Momma gave up then."

"Ellan," her dear friend said quietly, "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head, letting her ponytail sway behind her, "She's with Daddy and she won't be plagued by the cancer anymore." She looked at their hands for a moment before looking back up at him. "I let my anger control me tonight and I've barely been able to keep it under control since."

_[Location: The Nemesis]_

Listening to the human scream was a joy. Knockout was slowly dismantling the monster that had captured his friend and turned him into a freakish experiment. The Decepticon doctor was all too happy to return every bit of pain that Breakdown was put through. The human inside the carcass of Breakdown began to yell the most interesting things, increasing the Decepticon's vocabulary with such colorful terms. The human began to promise all sorts of things, from stock piles of weapons to locations of M.E.C.H. occupied energon mines, for the torture to stop.

Knockout had taken apart Breakdown's body enough to expose the human with the foul smell of spoiling flesh about him. Maybe it wasn't such a bright thing for this human to attach his own body to that of a Cybertronian. The damage alone caused by the energon exposure to the fleshy part would warrant one to have stayed away from such a mix.

Lifting the head of his long passed friend into the light to take a closer look at the optic replacement the humans had done, the doctor noticed something very familiar. Cylas had come across the lovely Elita-One and apparently he wasn't on her good side.

Cylas, who was watching Knockout with his one good human eye, thought he had found his bargaining chip finally. "She's like me!" he cried out, "She's a human in a built body."

Now this was a subject Knockout wanted to hear more about. "Really?" he asked, moving closer to look at the weak fleshy body in the open cavity, "And what makes you so sure about that?"

"She showed me. She told me I was a poor copy of herself."

"She certainly did better about her body than you did," the 'good' doctor retorted flatly. He was having trouble believing that his Elita, that sweet body of a custom trike, was a human hiding in a Cybertronian body. She didn't give off any organic readings when he had first scanned her, but then again he wasn't looking for any organic in the first place. His initial scans had shown him she was Cybertronian of origin.

"Her real name is Ellan Greer," Cylas began to spill. He told Knockout everything he knew about the woman, how she was working for him on a certain project, and how it was his plan to have used her to infiltrate the Autobots. Thinking he had just won over his life, and a second chance to live in his new body, he asked the most important question to his situation. "Is that sufficient to spare me?"

"Hrmm," turning Breakdown's head this way and that in the light, Knockout pretended to think it over, "No."

Cylas only thought he was in pain before.

On the bridge of the ship, Knockout was eager to share what he had learned from the several days of taking apart his latest play thing. Humans were easy to kill, lacking any real armor, but put the right amount of current to certain nerve clusters in the mush they call a brain and their limbs and bodies dance exquisitely on their own. Unfortunately once the main organs failed the rest of the body began to follow.

It was the information about the illusive Autobot that Megatron was the most eager to hear. As the physician shared what Cylas had said about Elita, the Decepticon leader gently brushed the place her bullet had just missed taking his head off of his shoulders.

"She might have been a human in a robotic shell," he stated calmly, "but I believe something happened to her during her stay on Cybertron . She had perfected the science that Cylas had failed in." Turning to his subordinate, the dark energon infused leader continued, "I wonder if Optimus knows exactly what wolf he is keeping in his fold?"

**Author's Note: I don't own the show. Thanks for sticking with me on this very strange ride. **


	8. Chapter 8

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

Ratchet frowned down at his station, particularly the human that was laying on her back and half into the console. Not only was Elita-One repairing his station that Bulkhead and Smokescreen broke, but with all of the computer parts she had brought with her she was upgrading what systems in the base she could. The Autobot medic watched as her right foot was tapping the air in time with whatever music she was listening to, a blurb here and there coming and sometimes movement from her larger form standing nearby giving the clearer indication of the fact. Apparently the fast beat music, close in style, or at least tempo, to what Miko prefers, was what Elita worked best to. At least the medic could understand most of the words that he heard.

With a shake of his head and lack of anything he could really do at the moment, Ratchet walked over to where Jack was setting up the new entertainment system. The TV the kids utilized was one that was found by a dumpster, resting on the couch the humans used as well. Now both were replaced by what Elita had brought with her from her old home with the promise that they would take care of it.

With a smile of satisfaction Jack moved from behind the large flat screen and began to boot up the CPU tower that E said went with it. It was her digital back up of several movies, TV shows, music, and audio books that the woman had promised she would eventually get around to watching or listening to 'one of these days'. Her real reason for doing so was so that her mother could relax without having to worry about having to change a bunch of things around.

Busy with the remote, Jack began searching through all the files to find something to test the system with as he sat on the couch. Picking a random folder, he let a video play through till he was pleased at the results before going to another one. Jack personally liked the new furniture; the plush living room set with a sensible solid colored pattern was worn, but well loved. According to the Autobot-Human the frames for the seats were original, but she had gotten them reupholstered for her mother after she had completely recovered from the long bouts of chemo treatments as a reward for sticking with it.

As he paused and brushed his hand over the cushion to his right, the black haired young man seemed to realize that Elita had grown up almost just like he had, except her father didn't just leave. It also gave him pause as he wondered how he would have handled it if his mother ever got sick. Just thinking about it was scary in and of itself, but it must have been just short of a nightmare for Ellan to have gone through at his age. The only question he could ask himself on the matter was: "Could I do the same as she had?"

He had taken his job at the K.O. Burger to help develop his sense of responsibility, but to tell anyone the truth it was being with the Autobots, working with his Cybertronian and human friends, that probably given him the best lessons in the subject. Especially since he took an older brother type roll for Miko and Ralf. Being with the Autobots, especially Optimus and Arcee, brought something special out in Jack, something that he never thought he'd ever find in his life. Something that he thought he lost his chance to find when his father left.

As the days passed Jack found it easier to call Elita 'Aunt Ellan', mostly because of the way she took care of he and the others. She was caring and supportive, not in a smothering way like June was, but if E felt that she needed to bring up something she saw was wrong she did. Homework became bearable with her being a private tutor for them. Even Miko was spending less time in detention for it. Somehow what the teachers made confusing during the day Elita made so understandable that Jack was beginning to wonder if she wasn't a teacher in one of her many jobs in her short life. Raf even benefitted from the Autobot-Human as well. They could speak so easily in computer and other geek terms with each other that it kept even Ratchet silent.

After pulling herself free from Ratchet's main computer system, Elita let it boot back up and run its usual system checks before joining back with her larger form. There was an easing of physical pain as her systems merged together that let her know she had been separated for too long. With a sigh of relief, she focused on the screen as Jack stopped the video he had been watching. "Great job in getting that set up," she complimented the young man.

With a bashful scratch of the back of his head, the black haired teen smiled up at her. "I tinker here and there around the house for Mom when she needs it."

"That's how I learned how to do most of my stuff," she replied before turning her attention to the Autobot standing beside her. "It should run faster now with that memory and CPU upgrade."

"Any help is much appreciated," the medic smiled warmly at her, "Thank you, Elita."

She couldn't help but return the smile, but would have been blushing in her smaller form as she looked back at the entertainment setup. Both Jack and Ratchet watched her as she suddenly paused, her face going slack as she stared past the human teenager.

Curious, both of her friends focused on what grabbed her attention so. The screensaver for the system was set up to go through the picture files located on the system's hard drive. The couple was a happy one, dressed for their wedding day and looking so very much in love.

Ratchet felt a twinge at the images of the woman, with her long red hair done up in a lovely braided loops that cradled her veil, smiling up at a man who was wearing the standard army dress uniform. They looked so happy, that the Autobot actually felt jealous over the image of what looked to be Elita in the arms of another man.

Jack's question sliced through the air like a laser scalpel. "When did you get married, E?" Even hearing the question from where he was Optimus calmly walked over from his own work station as Ratchet focused a questionable look on their friend.

Elita smiled warmly as the memories came back to her, not really noticing that she was the focus of their attention as she looked at the changing images on the screen. "I never married. Those are my parent's wedding pictures." Giving an airy chuckle, she let her head dip down, "I had scanned those in for Momma years ago and set it up as the screen saver for her."

Jack looked back at the pictures himself, "They look so happy. How long were they married?"

"Married twelve years," she answered as she looked back up at the screen, "but they had been childhood sweethearts."

"Military service runs in your family?" Optimus asked, having noted the uniform her father was wearing as the pictures cycled through to more of her parent's life.

"A long history of it, probably dating back to before the founding of this country. When there wasn't a war going on they were farming the fields around the house. My great grandfather had to sell off most of the land, but kept a good amount around the house itself for our own farming." Elita paused, weighing her feelings to see if she had shared too much of herself again. Her past wasn't something she felt comfortable burdening others with.

Feeling that she had more to say Jack stood up and walked around to the railing in front of her, "What happened to your Dad?"

Her smile turned sad as she focused down on the young man before her, "My father was an engineer for the army. It's where my love of working on machines and with tools came from. Momma said ever since I could walk I'd use to go out into the garage with him every time he had a project he was workin' on and she would find us laughing and covered in engine grease and grime.

"I had just turned seven a month before…"

_She sat quietly on the bus, looking out the window as the spring wheat fields passed by, their stalks taller than she stood as they readied themselves for the upcoming harvest. Ellan was glad that school was almost over and the summer break was around the corner…_

"He had been stationed over in Iraq for Desert Storm. Once every two weeks he would get to call us and Momma would wake me up for it at 1:45 in the morning. After he had been gone for so long I'd wake myself up right before he'd call so there wouldn't be a precious moment wasted on having to wait on me to drag myself out of bed. We would also write each other nearly every day, and I use to draw him a picture every week of silly things like the plants and animals, but mostly I would draw pictures of me and Momma for him."

…_As the bus slowly rocked to a halt, the doors squeaking as the driver pushed the lever to open them. Dust from the dirt road swirled around Ellan as she stepped off the vehicle, her arms holding the book she was reading close to her chest. Looking down the driveway at her home, the young lady was trying to figure out who the strange vehicle belonged to as the school bus doors shut behind her before it slowly pulled away down the meandering road._

_Hearing the dirt give way to the gravel crunching under her feet, she felt the wind blowing from the west, bringing with it the smell of Mrs. McNeili's bread. It must be Friday, she thought to herself, knowing that Mrs. McNeili did her weekly baking on Fridays. Her eyes were still focused on the strange green jeep that was parked in front of her home. As she brushed some of her hair out of her face to behind her ear, Ellan paused to look at the faded gold star on the door of the jeep. She recognized it now from when she would visit the base with her father when he was home._

_Puzzled as to why it was so far from the base, the young girl looked at her front door as it opened and two men in their battle dress uniforms stepped out. Her mother was stepping out behind them, the two men actually parting ways to let her pass. Seeing her mother in near tears, Ellan knew why these men were there. Dropping her book, she ran to her mother's arms and wept with her…_

"He was killed during an attack on the outpost he was working on. Their attackers threw a grenade into the building he and some of the others stationed with him were defending and he covered it with his own body to save them. My father gave his life so six other men could return to their families."

Elita felt herself being pulled from the memory as a warm hand gripped her own. Startled back into the here and now, she looked down at her hand and then up at the bot holding it. With a deep understanding in his optics, Ratchet nodded at her. Feeling her old wounds beginning to heal, Elita-One gave him a deep, warm smile as she squeezed his hand in a silent 'Thank you'.

**Author's Note: I don't own the show.**

Sorry it's been so long. I wanted to make sure I got this one right emotion wise.

A bit of minor editing. Nothing changed story wise, just a grammar bit here and there.


	9. Chapter 9

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

Only so much could be unpacked and set up in her room. What boxes remained had been stacked in and around the cast iron bath tub. As it was now, the back left hand corner, the one opposite of her Autobot body sized desk, had turned into a human sized work area. Between the desk from her bedroom and her computer workstation and repair desk from her 'in house' side business it was a regular office. Carefully setting the file cabinet down next to her writing desk that was for once somewhat organized, Elita focused down on it as she let her larger body pick her up in its left hand and thought about what she was going to do with it.

Her 'Virus Vault' came about from at first from gathering the files from fixing people's computers. It wasn't a skill that she knew she had, but one she picked up quickly as she learned there was a need for someone in her small town to be able to do so. Her love for the digital systems began the first Christmas after her father had bravely given his life for those he served with. The six men and their families had come together to give the widow and her daughter a holiday celebration. Jessica and Ellan were surprised to find a family standing outside their door, the father in his BDUs and holding his newborn in his arms with a blanket covering it to keep the falling snow from the little one. The family, which included three other children at their mother's side, caroled for the pair before the man introduced himself as one of the men that Stephen Greer saved that day and extended the invitation for Ellan and her mother to join them for Christmas. Reluctantly they agreed, but only after the other children added their pleas.

Once they reached the other's home they were greeted by the five other men and their family, having flown in to make the holiday special to the family that was left behind by the man who sacrificed his life so they could live. Knowing her husband's nature and seeing how these men were cherishing their families, Jessica wept with joy for the first time since. When it came to giving gifts, the men had all chipped in to buy one for Ellan. They had recalled how fondly Stephen would talk about his daughter and how she had a natural talent with working with machines. They also recalled how he was saving up to buy his daughter a computer for Christmas, the funds with which Jessica had to use for the bills after his death.

They all had chipped in and got Ellan the most up-to-date system at the time and on the "From:" tag, they had put her father's name. It was something the young lady still cherished to this day. Even though she didn't use the system anymore, it was safely packed in a box and had been stored away. A box that now rested under her computer desk.

With a sigh, Elita curled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them as she rested her chin on her knees. The vault was not something to be taken lightly. It contained just about every virus she had come across while repairing other people's computers. Originally she saved them to study their coding and had built a smaller computer separate from her network to keep them from inadvertently spreading again. In studying their coding she was able to come with a few anti-virus programs herself and in turn able to write a few virus codes as well, though she only saved those for 'special occasions'. Further studying the coding she was able to track down most of the minds behind the viruses, particularly the really nasty ones, by how they did their coding and anonymously turn them into the authorities. Those special occasions were used to preserve the hacker's systems to keep them from hiding when the cops or feds came beating on their doors.

It was while she was working with Silas and his crew that she realized that her knowledge was being used for non-humanitarian reasons and it made her decide that she needed to hide the dangerous piece of hardware. Modifying an old file cabinet she was able to safely store away the destructive files from prying eyes and hands. Imputing the wrong code into the keypad would activate the system and begin a system wide wipe of the system that would only take a few seconds to complete. Opening the drawers by force would accomplish the same thing, save that when the drawers were opened it only showed a regular file system with a few folders inside with dummy paperwork.

The current problem now was that she had it in the base with her and she was currently thinking on how to break the news to her friends. Optimus needed to be told about it and in turn Ratchet and the others. Then there was the issue of access to it. While they Autobots trusted her it would only be beneficial to bring Rafael into the knowledge of the system. Raf was the only other human she could trust with Vault access.

Elita had come across young Esquivel in the hacker community in the year prior to her kidnapping, though she only realized it while she was looking over his shoulder at his computer coding as he was creating the virus to hack the Decepticon's system to gather the Iacon database. The only 'malicious' coding the young man had released. She found his 'signature' scattered across all sorts of conspiracy sites in replacement pictures and found herself endeared to him then, a coder after her own keys in a way, and his replacements made her laugh. He wasn't doing harm so she left him alone and didn't bother digging any deeper into whom he actually was on the other side of the screen. Realizing the truth now Elita was very glad she never truly found out who he was.

A beeping of her larger computer systems brought her out of her thoughts. Hopping from her larger hand, E walked over to the six screened behemoth and pulled up her search. Since Rafael was with his family searching for a new house after the Decepticon's attempt at terminating him she was running the searches online while he was away. Apparently it was a good thing she was. Rolling her chair closer to her setup, Elita brought up the results of her search. A video someone had posted on the VidView site made her sigh.

It was originally a flash mob in Japan doing the latest 'dance craze' en mass until a large mecha decided to join in. In the comments was a flame war on if the mecha that joined in the dancing was real or CGI. Grabbing a group of chained flash drives from her bottom right hand drawer she flipped through them until she came across the one she wanted and plugged it in. A few seconds later she turned a viral video into a true viral video. She hated to do it, but having the code track down all the computers that viewed it, and the thousands that saved the video to their systems, to wipe the file clean was necessary.

"Really, Smokescreen?" she mumbled as she put the chain of flash drives away, "Gangnam style?" The newest Autobot had volunteered to take Miko to Japan to visit her parents for a little bit after Bulkhead had talked her into it. The Wrecker couldn't really go due to his size and Smokescreen had quickly made the offer to go earlier in the day before going on patrol with Bumblebee that afternoon.

As she let the virus do its job she set herself to rest on the right shoulder off her larger form to make her way to the control center of the base. It was better to talk about the Virus Vault now while the base was quiet than with a bunch of audio sensors, just in case Optimus decided that the thing needed to be destroyed. As she made her way down the hallway, Elita was actually playing the most recent song to come to mind. She couldn't stand it, but dang it; it was addictive!

_Timeframe: Legacy_

When she found the room occupied by all of the Autobots that lived there and Jack, all staring at her oddly as she came in, did she realize then that she was playing it out loud and shut it off. "Sorry," she said with a bashful cringe though both forms.

"Good song!" Smokescreen said enthusiastically, giving her a thumbs up.

"It's your fault it's stuck in my head," she mumbled as she walked closer, "I just fried a few hundred thousand computers because _you _joined a flash mob." The look Ratchet and Arcee gave the newest Autobot told Elita that something else happened along the same lines and that was the current discussion she had walked into.

"Is this what you learned while serving Alpha Trion?" Ratchet began to chide Smokescreen, looking as if he wanted to slap the pain job off of the Elite Guard.

Elita winced a bit at seeing the medic so mad, but set her human body down on the platform Jack was on to look at his computer screen. With a sigh and a shake of her head as she looked at the picture of Bumblebee and Smokescreen plastered right on it she began to key in what she needed in order to take care of the picture as the discussion about the newest Autobot's behavior and how to go about fixing it.

"Perhaps the best way for you to learn about the human world," Prime stated thoughtfully, "is _from_ a human."

"Smokescreen gets his own partner?" Arcee asked incredulously.

"Pa-lease," Ratchet interjected, "isn't having three humans here enough?"

As everyone looked at the medic, most of those present were surprised to hear the words coming from his vocal unit, Smokescreen motioned with his hand at Elita who was back to her human form sitting on her Autobot one, "Didn't you forget one?"

With a disgusted sigh, the medic turned away and marched back to his station. E gently put her hand on his shoulder and offered a kind smile his way, but Ratchet's words and tone bothered her as Smokescreen's question bounced about in her head. Did he really forget that she was human, or at least use to be?

As Jack was volunteered to teach their newest about the world he lived on now, Ratchet looked over at the fem next to him and returned the smile she gave him in both forms. "It's going to be alright," she whispered to him.

Gently placing his hand over hers on his shoulder, the medic nodded, "I know." Together they watched as Smokescreen with Jack peeled out of the base and Arcee plead her case to Optimus about her partner's safety and their leader's reassurances that the young man would be fine.

"So..." Elita said as she stepped out from around Ratchet, "while we're airing our concerns, I have one to bring up." She proceeded to share with them about the dangerous piece of hardware and the coding it contained.

**Author's Note: I don't own the show or the song.**

As far as I know VidView doesn't exist. Also, the idea for Smokescreen dancing came to me way before I saw the NGSmoov video. I did my best not to get caught up in the Gangnam Style addiction but *shakes playfully -angry fist at TexM.E.C.H.s *.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 10

_[Location: Autobot Base]Time frame: Legacy_

A quiet afternoon of baking had Elita smiling again. A large plate full of high carb cookies to eat during her monitor duty that night sat waiting on the kitchen counter as she left. Rejoining with her larger form she made her way to the control center of the base, joining Bumblebee and Arcee as they listened to Ratchet's latest report on his world wide scan for energon deposits. The squeal of tires proceeded his appearance into the room as Smokescreen skidded to a halt to let Jack out, both of them laughing heartily. Apparently the behavioral lessons were going both ways and not for the better.

"This is what's taught to the Elite Guard?" Elita mumbled, crossing her arms as Jack was showing off the picture of what happened to Vince's car, "I've known three year olds that acted more mature."

Bumblebee gave her a sorrowful look as he beeped and whirled his reply about how the Elite Guard were trained to be the best of the best and that he had once wanted to become one.

"Crank-shafts like that were hazed in my unit during basic training until they acted right because if they messed up we all got punished," the Autobot-Human hybrid continued. "You screw up in the field it's not always just your life at stake."

As the boys walked off, Arcee tilted her head back a bit in Elita-One's direction. "E, I'll trade you your monitor duty tonight if you put Smokescreen a bit 'under the weather'." Bumblebee beeped quietly in agreement that he'd also take a shift to help sweeten the deal.

Blinking a bit, Elita snorted as she quickly put her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing as the idea formed in her own head. "Ooooh that's terrible," she replied, though her voice was thick with humor, "and what exactly would I do with a free night at the base?"

"Oh, I don't know," Ratchet added 'innocently', "I could help you think of a few ideas."

They all turned to look at him, two of them not accustomed to the playful tone coming from the medic, but he was smirking a bit at Elita. Breaking optic-contact with him she knew she would be blushing, but still smiling. "Yes, going over my scan results is _so_ much fun as long as we leave the Synth-En out of it and you don't go all Herbert West on me." That gained her a hearty laugh from the medic. "Besides," she began, stopping to clear her throat, "besides I'm already in trouble with Optimus. This wouldn't help."

Arcee shrugged a bit, "Was worth a shot at least."

"I will keep it in mind though," Elita replied as they went back to the report Ratchet was giving.

The following day, while it was relatively quiet at the base, Elita was in the medical chamber as a full diagnostic scan was being run on her systems that Ratchet insisted on doing once a week. She took this time to herself to think. Honestly, since joining up with the Autobots she had been less active and feeling quite lazy.

There wasn't much that she could do growing up to help her mother out aside from making sure that the house was clean when her mother would come home late from working her double shifts. After the house was cleaned and her homework done Ellan would sit on her computer and figure out all sorts of things. She would write some, but who really would want to read her telling of her favorite TV shows? Ellan also dabbled a bit with trying to play music since the house was quiet and she could practice without being interrupted. There was also the drama team she joined up with after school so she wouldn't have as many lonely hours at home.

Then things changed the fall of her fourteenth year. Her mother had not been feeling well and had collapsed at work. Ellan thought it was because her mother had been working so hard but the scans had come back that the underlying cause was cancer. Ellan missed school to stay at her mother's side, but one of her friends and their parents would drive the two hours it took to drop off her school work for the week. Despite doing her work the school board decided that she had missed too many days and held her back. Ellan didn't care; she was at her mother's side when her mother needed her the most.

It was when her mother had been able to return home to recover that Ellan found out the hard truth. The medical insurance that they had only covered part of the bills and her mother had taken out a loan against the house to cover the rest. With her mother being sick she couldn't work to pay the bills and what little they had saved up was quickly spent as well.

A quick talk with the neighbors to ask if they could keep an eye on her mother, Ellan bundled up and rode her bike the five miles it took to get to the outskirts of the town. The first building was the one bank in the area. Kicking the February snow off of her boots, she marched into the bank and up to the man who owned it.

She pulled the letter they had received in the mail the day before out of her inner coat pocket and showed it to him. The man was fully prepared to defend himself against a young lady's claims, ready to state that he was legally allowed to foreclose on the home for payments past due, but in truth he wasn't really prepared for what she had said.

Instead of pleading with him about not going through with the foreclosure she asked him for a job at the bank, even if it was cleaning the bank's floor with a toothbrush. Naturally he baulked at the idea, the law would be after him for sure for hiring someone so young, but he could tell where her heart was. The Greer family was as established in these parts before most of the town had been. Reluctantly he declined her offer to work and had to send her away.

One of the ladies who worked at the bank as a teller had overheard the conversation and pulled Ellan aside before she left the bank. She offered to pay Ellan to do a bit of housework for her twice a week after school, it wouldn't be much but it was something. Naturally the young lady accepted. At hearing the plan the other two tellers had joined in, all three working it out with the young lady on what days she would come over and even put a down payment towards the loan on the house in good faith that Ellan would uphold her end of the bargain. The payment was enough to keep the bank from going through with the foreclosure.

Ellan went straight to work that afternoon before returning home to her mother. Word spread around the town and Ellan found she was offered with all sorts of odd jobs to do that paid under the table, everything from cleaning to mechanical and computer repair. The activities she had picked up during her free time were let go so she could focus on working. The loan was paid off quickly and Ellan was able to rebuild a little nest egg for any further emergencies. Her mother was able to focus on recovering and at her daughter's urging didn't pull double shifts anymore.

Once she had turned sixteen she was able to get a couple actual payroll jobs. With summer school she was able to regain her lost year and get ahead to graduate early. When she had made a small mention of going to college her mother was quick to agree that she should take it. But despite her remarkable grades Ellan still needed help with paying for her higher education. Joining the army gave her the help that she needed.

After she left the military, Ellan returned home to her mother, who still suffered from some of the side effects from her cancer treatment after all these years; and again took what jobs she could in the small town to bring in income.

She had met Joel while she was working in Special Tactics, what she thought was that he was just a harmless flirt that would spend a few minutes each day bothering her at her desk, but it was after she had left the army that he had come to her to ask her out. That was a mistake that eventually sent her life her life spiraling into what it was now.

Her mother never liked the man and Ellan was bothered by how he treated her, but she could never find the courage to leave him. She had never dated before; she never had the time to date anyone before, so she was scared of being alone for the rest of her life if she left him. After realizing on her own that she didn't like his treatment of her; and realizing how she was being treated by the others in her unit after she got Project: Damocles shut down, did she ditch the jerk.

For a while her life began to flourish again… until Silas came back into it.

Giving a sigh as the scans finished up, Elita looked up at the door and out at the others as they gathered at the open ground bridge. She did the best she could given what she knew at the time; and with no way to change it, dwelling on it only gave you a headache and told you what to look for in the future.

The others had left before she was out of the small chamber, so she walked over to Ratchet. She didn't speak to him right away, but instead looked up at the screen. Another Iacon beacon had been activated and they went to retrieve it. She tried not to let being left at the base bother her, but it did. Ratchet got out more than she did and she missed it.

Quietly she retreated to her garden, Ratchet glancing back at her as she left. Something was bothering her and he wanted to know what it was, but he couldn't leave his post. Also, she would speak when she was ready.

Not thirty minutes later, Ratchet's station began to notify him of another Iacon locator beacon that had been activated. All attempts to reach Optimus or the others was only filled with static making the medic wonder if it was the area or some other interference in the way.

Hearing Smokescreen's return, and the laughter that accompanied it, Elita rolled her eyes as she put her freshly picked food away in the fridge. She personally didn't like the fact that the wrong things were rubbing off on Jack, but it was his life to make the choices he wanted to. From personal experience in her own life though, she knew that Jack had to learn some things for himself, the hard way.

Hearing Ratchet's slightly panicked tone, E made her way to the main control room as the ground bridge was closing down. "What's going on, Doc?"

"There is a second Iacon locater beacon and I cannot get a hold of Optimus," was the short reply between the medic's attempts to reach somebody.

"So you sent Smoke to go get it," she settled as she looked around for Jack. "Where's Jack?" When all she got was a mumbled reply she only shrugged. He might have gone further into the base to get something or to work on his homework, so she let it go. With nothing better to do she walked over to Optimus' work station and looked over the screen as she waited for Ratchet to tell her what she could do to help.

When Jack called into base not long after Smokescreen left, Elita felt her stomach drop. "He pulled a Miko…" While Ratchet was asking questions, she jumped into action at the first sound of the Insecticon through the speakers. Pulling the lever of the ground bridge controls, Elita transformed and drove through the ground bridge despite Ratchet's calls to her not to go.

_[Location: South Central China]_

Elita transformed right as she exited the portal, hearing it shut down behind her. Shifting her hands to her weaponry, she followed the sounds of the attacking Insecticon and crashing of the landscape. Spotting three of them over the horizon, she managed to see Jack dodging the deadly claws as they came closer and closer to them.

The first one received a head shot as she dove in, but it only stunned it for a moment as she reached around to pick up the human. She fired precise shots, one going through the eye of one of their attackers to shut down his central processor, as she scooped up the teenager. As the other two screamed E transformed, having to toss Jack a bit to have him land on the driver's seat, before she sped off. Hearing the hive members following closely now, E did everything she could to avoid the swipes of their deadly claws. Realizing that there was no real way to run, she transformed.

Jack gave a yell of surprise as he was suddenly tossed up again with the sudden stop and spin, Elita transforming under him and catching him in one of her larger hands as her smaller human body dropped to the ground. "Elita?!" he yelled in confusion as the larger form ran towards the rocks as her smaller one began to fire at the oncoming Insecticons.

Stopping to set him down at the base of the mountain, Elita's larger from looked down at him. "You won't get squished this way. Stay hidden." He quickly hid in the small cave the two large boulders created as the scream of an imminent attack made the Autobot turn to face the oncoming attacker. This was not how she wanted to test how well she could fight with both bodies independently, but it was how it was happening. Fortunately instinct kicked in.

Her larger body blocked and countered with its double bladed weaponry, swerving to duck under its Insecticon attackers raking claws aimed at its head. Using the momentum, Elita's bot body moved to sweep the feet under the Insecticon. When the Con's feet didn't budge, the bright blue eyes caught the insect about to swing both clawed fists down and the wheels on her ankles shifted around quickly to allow her to move out of the way. Its attacker followed as the larger form rolled towards the rock face, leapt up and of the rock, flipping backwards over the Insecticon as a claw swept at its back, and aimed point blank at the Con's head with the sniper rifle and fired.

At the same time Elita's human body was running, rolling, and firing up at her attacker to keep it busy, distracted from its partner's target. She made the mistake of running under the body of the Insecticon and felt as its foot hit her in the back as it turned around. Sent tumbling a distance away, Elita rolled over to aim at the screeching sound as it came closer to her, trying to focus her vision through the mixture of blood and energon coming from a cut across her forehead. As the insect raised its clawed fists to bring them down on the tiny Autobot, Elita watched as it disappeared in a massive amount of blue energon shot.

As Arcee helped Elita to her feet, the human-bot looked up at her "Where's Jack?" Elita pointed over to her larger form trying to fight off the second Insecticon. Arcee rushed over, leaping into action and taking out the attacker as it moved the boulder. Kneeling down to look at her partner she asked sharply, "What could you have possibly been thinking?"

"Not now," Elita said sharply, aiming at a few of the flying Decepticons overhead to help take them down before they were out of range. Unable to help any further, she holstered her guns and pressed her hand to her wound to try to stop the bleeding as she joined back with her larger form.

With a rush they joined the others to watch Optimus take possession of the Star Saber amidst the onslaught of Decepticon fire. It was a glorious show as Optimus, Saber in hand, crashed to the Earth in a glowing mass of energy. The Prime was calm as he stood on his feet, unharmed from the landing, and took the Star Saber in hand as if he had wielded it his whole life. When the chunk of mountain that had once surrounded the blade began its deadly decent he showed no fear, but simply faced only to split it in two as if it was butter. Then he turned his focus on the Nemesis, sending the Decepticons into a hasty retreat.

_[Location: Autobot Base]_

She knew she was going to be chided again, leaving the base and facing the Decepticons and Insecticons when she had been ordered not to, but to save Jack's life it was worth any punishment Prime would give her. If faced with the same choice she'd do it all over again. As the ground bridge closed down behind them she was rather surprised that no one said a word to her about it. Elita waited quietly near Ratchet's stations as Smokescreen went on and on about what had just happened.

Arcee was the one that broke through his happy bubble, laying into Smokescreen about putting Jack in danger. Elita understood why her fellow fem was upset, the protective instinct kicked into overdrive to keep another partner from coming to any harm. No one countered when she told Ratchet to send the young man home, the others knowing that it was best to not turn her wrath upon them.

When the Elite Guardsman began on how remorseful he was Elita couldn't keep quiet anymore. She marched forward, her optics sharp with anger. "If you ever put another human in danger again, _I'll_ put a new port through your central processor."

Since her little human handler wasn't around, Smokescreen saw his opportunity to bring up the point that had been bothering him, "Why are you so worked up for? Your human has you pressed so hard under her thumb that you can't even leave the base." He wasn't prepared for what he saw next.

"What am I so worked up for?!" Elita-One's torso plate opened up as she brought her right hand up. The human that he was always seeing her with stepped out onto it and as the Autobot lifted the hand holding her up to be eye level with the newest in their ranks, dried blood mixed with glowing energon still stained the human's face. Then in unison both forms spoke, their tone dark and angry, "Because _I_ use to be _human_!"

Quite disturbed by what was before him, Smokescreen began to feel ill as he mumbled, "That is so wrong…" before he turned as Optimus began to speak to him. Needing to be 'whole' Elita placed her smaller form back and let her torso seal back.

"Disregard for human safety, or _anyone's_ safety, will not be tolerated. Do you understand?" It was a tone they've heard before, but not often; Prime's tone of voice was a deathly serious. The fact that he was holding the Star Saber only gave it a harder edge.

"Fully, Sir," was the honest, spark-filled reply.

"We must never lose sight of the fact that upon this Earth _we_ are titans," Prime continued, the others giving him their full attention, "and such power must be used wisely."

A small bit of alarm coursed through them as the Star Saber began to glow. As the others focused on Prime as he brought the blade up and focused on its glowing surface, Elita was leaning up against the side of the platform the humans utilized, her optics not able to focus. In the haze, the others sounding muffled, she heard one word clearly. A word she heard once before while she was in the warmth of Vector Sigma.

"Eva."

~Fin.

**Author's Note: I do not own the show.**

Thanks for sticking with me. Yes, I know it ends in a sort of cliff hanger, but do worry! I do have more in the works; just don't know how fast I can get typed up. Panning out on how progress the underlying story.


End file.
